Religion

What is Religion

The religion It is a system of beliefs, customs and symbols established around an idea of divinity or of the sacred.

Religions are doctrines made up of a set of principles, beliefs and practices on existential, moral and spiritual issues.

EtymologicallyThe word religion comes from Latin religion, religionswhich in turn comes from the verb religāre. This is formed from the prefix rewhich indicates repetition, and from the word I will flirtwhich means ‘to bind or tie’.

Thus, religion is the doctrine that strongly links the human being with god or gods. Religion can be understood, in this way, as the action and effect of reconnecting God and human beings.

Currently, the major religions in the worldconsidering their number of faithful, are (in descending order):

Christianity (2.1 billion), Islam (1.9 billion) and Buddhism (1.6 billion).

The word religion, on the other hand, can be used figuratively to mean that an activity or obligation is carried out in a constant and rigorous manner. For example: “Going to the gym every day is, for him, a religion.”

Origin of religion

Instituted religions appeared for the first time after the Neolithic revolution, which led to the settlement of human groups, the division of labor, the development of agriculture and, with it, greater time spent observing nature.

Neolithic religions, unlike previous shamanic experiences, were structured around three elements: temple, priest and sacrifices (or offerings), which in turn are an expression of the conceptualization of The sacred and the profane.

function of religion

Religion’s function is to consolidate a system of values ​​that allows, on the one hand, the cohesion of the social group based on a common project, and on the other, to create a certain degree of spiritual satisfaction through faith to overcome suffering and achieve happiness.

All religions have their bases and foundations in symbolic/historical stories called mythsunderstanding as a myth a story that explains the origin of life, the justification of its state and its future projection.

All religions are supported by various currents of thought that try to explain who we are and why we have come to the world.

In cultures with writing, religions are based on sacred texts, which gather their followers around the same spiritual community.

Features of religion

It is structured around the belief in one or more forces superior to the human being. It is an interpretation of life, to which it attributes maximum value. It justifies the characteristics of life, so it provides comfort and/or hope. Distinguishes between the sacred and the profane. Builds an ethical code. Forms a project for the future. Promotes the cohesion of the group that practices it. It is projected through symbols, such as myths or stories (oral or written), objects of sacred art, body expressions and rituals. You need a prophet or shaman. Those religions that are written down give rise to temples, priests and sacrifices (or offerings).

Types of religion according to theological concept

Religions, likewise, can be classified according to different criteria, such as their origin, their type of revelation or their theological conception. The theological conceptionfor its part, can be divided into:

Theismwhich involves the belief in absolute divine entities, creators of the world and providents, which in turn is divided into monotheism, polytheism and dualism.

Monotheism: All religions that assume the existence of a single God correspond to this group. In this category are Judaism, Christianity and Islam, also known as the book religions.
Polytheism: All those religions that believe in the existence of different gods are polytheistic. For example, the ancient religions represented in Egyptian, Greco-Roman and Norse mythology. Currently, we can mention Santeria in Latin America.
Dualism: refers to those religions that accept the existence of two supreme antagonistic principles, good and evil.
Pantheismaccording to which everything that exists participates in the divine nature to the extent that the divine is immanent to the universe.

non-theismwhich implies the non-belief of absolute divine entities, since these are spiritual currents that conceive divinity in a different way, as is the case of Buddhism, for example.

See also:

Current monotheistic religions

Judaism

He Judaism It is the oldest of the world’s monotheistic religions and, like the others, it is Abrahamic, that is, based on the stories about the patriarch Abraham. Judaism preaches the existence of one God, creator of the universe, and announces the advent of a messiah.

In this religion, family is very important, and much of the Jewish faith is based on the teachings received at home. The Torah or Pentateuch is the sacred book of the Jews. Jewish services are held in synagogues, and are led by a rabbi.

Some of its sacred symbols are the Star of David and the Menorah. The star is on the flag of Israel and the menorah is on the shield. Currently, it has about 14 million followers around the world.

See also Judaism.

Christianity

As Christianity we call the religion that recognizes Jesus Christ as the son of God the Father in communion with the Holy Spirit. It is a messianic religion, that is, one that believes in the messiah or ‘sent’ anointed by God. The term Christianity comes from the word Christ, which means ‘anointed one’.

The sacred book of Christianity is the Bible and churches are the place where the teachings of Jesus and the prophets collected in the Bible are preached. Preachers are called priests, bishops, elders and/or pastors according to the denomination of Christianity.

The main denominations or trends of Christianity are the Catholicismthe orthodoxyhe Anglicanism and the Protestantismwithin which is the lutheranism and various dissident groups of the Catholic Church such as the free evangelicals.

See also:

Catholicism

Catholicism It is the religious doctrine that represents the Apostolic and Roman Catholic Church, whose supreme authority is the Pope, who resides in the Vatican, which is why its history is closely linked to that of Western Europe. It has about 1,214 million followers around the world.

Like all of Christianity, Catholicism centers worship on the person of Jesus. It admits, however, veneration and respect for the Virgin Mary and the saints. The Bible used by Catholics corresponds to the so-called Alexandrian Canon Bible either seventies versionwhich contains a total of 72 books.

See also Catholic Church.

Orthodox Catholicism or Orthodoxy

As orthodox is called the religious doctrine of Christian origin which arose from the schism of the Catholic Church in the year 1054. It maintains the same body of beliefs as Catholicism, but is distinguished by some dogmatic or customary differences. For example, Orthodox priests can marry, unless they aspire to be bishops or patriarchs.

The supreme authority is a governing council, the Holy Ecumenical Synod, where unity comes from doctrine, faith, cults and sacraments. All the patriarchs participate in this. The pope is recognized by the Orthodox as just another patriarch and not as a supreme authority. Currently, he has about 300 million followers.

See also Orthodox Church.

Anglicanism

Anglicanism is an established Christian confession that originated in England in the 16th century, when the so-called Anglican Church was founded. Anglicanism responds to the spiritual leadership of the Archbishopric of Canterbury. The word Anglican means ‘from England’.

This denomination of Christianity accepts the Nicene Creed and the Apostles’ Creed, also accepts the practice of the 7 Catholic sacraments and allows the episcopate to adapt to the reality of each country where it is represented.

See also Anglican Church.

Protestantism

Protestantism began with the Reformation promoted by Martin Luther in 1517, which gave rise to the Lutheran religion or lutheranism. However, over the years many Christian movements of Protestant inspiration have emerged, including free evangelicals (Pentecostals, Baptists, etc.) and various sects, which makes the movement very diverse.

Protestantism proposes eliminating the mediation of priests for salvation and obtaining salvation only through the declaration of faith.

At the same time, he rejects from Catholics the cult of saints and the transubstantiation of Jesus into bread and wine. Protestantism also rejects the Catholic edition of the Bible, and opts for the Hebrew Canon either Palestinian Canon, which contains a total of 66 books. Currently, there are around 700 million Protestants in the world.

See also:

Islamism

Islam is a monotheistic religion of Abrahamic inspiration. Its main prophet was Muhammad, born in Mecca around the year 570, in western Arabia. The word Islam In Arabic it means ‘submission’ to Allah (God). He who accepts the faith of Islam is called a Muslim or, in Arabic, muslimwhich translates ‘that submits’.

The holy book of Islam is the Quran, where the word of Allah was revealed to the prophet Muhammad. The Quran mentions more than twenty prophets from Adam to Muhammad, including Noah, Abraham, Moses, Solomon and Jesus. In addition to the Quran, books such as the Torah, Psalms, and the Gospel are considered texts revealed by God. The place where the Islamic faith is practiced is the mosque.

See also Islamism.

Current polytheistic religions

Hinduism

Hinduism is a spirituality polytheistic coming from India. Within Hinduism there is a great diversity of philosophical and spiritual trends, but they are all unified in two elemental aspects: the belief in the supreme god called Brahma and the belief in reincarnation.

See also Hinduism.

Current non-theistic religions

Buddhism

Buddhism is a philosophical and religious doctrine with a great presence in all Asian countries. Currently, it is spread throughout almost the entire world.

It is a non-theistic religion, developed from the teachings spread by his Siddhartha Gautama, around the 5th century BC. C., in northeastern India. It contains a wide variety of doctrines, schools and practices, shaped around its philosophical principles.

For Buddhism, life includes suffering, and the origin of said suffering is desire. To the extent that desire is extinguished, suffering will be extinguished. Thus, the noble path, consisting of wisdom, ethical conduct, meditation, attention and full awareness of the present, is the method to extinguish suffering.

The symbol of Buddhism is the one that represents the dharma (law, religion). He dharma chakraas such, is represented as a wheel…